Putin’s shadow over Commonwealth

LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn was wrong to say that Prince Charles should not automatically take over from the Queen as the head of the Commonwealth.

This remarkable organisation of 53 member states has been kept alive thanks to the Queen more than anyone else. If anybody has the right to anoint her successor, it’s Her Majesty.

This week’s Commonwealth Conference was a magnificent event and a tribute to her lifetime’s work. But there was one mystery. With Vladimir Putin’s Russia considered to be an increasing threat to the West, why wasn’t this on the agenda?

Was it, perhaps, because there are at least three Commonwealth countries (Cyprus, Malta, Vanuatu) who are also notorious havens for dirty Russian money?

Cyprus also sells Cypriot passports to rich Russians, which allows them to acquire citizenship and visa-free access to the EU.